An unnamed asylum seeker living in Sweden has been sentenced to six months in prison after being found guilty of having sex with his ‘wife’, who was only 13-years-old at the time.

By – Chris Tomlinson

The asylum seeker, who is now 25-years-old, married the girl while she was 13 back in 2014 after seeking asylum in Turkey. He engaged in sexual activity with her while in Turkey, then headed to Sweden to seek asylum in 2015, Swedish broadcaster SVTreports.

Despite the crime occurring in Turkey in 2014, the 25-year-old was arrested and taken to court in Kalmar on charges of raping a minor. The Kalmar District Court found the man guilty of raping a minor and sentenced him to six months in prison.

The judge is said to have given the 25-year-old a lighter than normal sentence owing to the fact he was just over twenty when the rape occurred.

The case comes after another case last year in which a Swedish prosecutor refused to bring charges against a Syrian man born in 1987 who not only had sex with his ‘wife’ when she was either 13 or 14 but got her pregnant as well. The prosecutor claimed that he could not charge the migrant as the crime had occurred in Syria.

In another case, many criticised the Swedish government after it gave an Iraqi asylum seeker custody of children he had produced with his former ‘wife’ while she was only 13-years-old.

Sara Mohammad, from the anti-honour violence organisation GAPF, slammed the ruling, saying: “Had a Swedish girl been sent abroad to marry a paedophile, then every social worker and politician had rolled up their sleeves straight away. Every minister and the prime minister would have called it a huge scandal for Sweden.”